Government agency dedicated to energy security and supporting net zero efforts has picked three major services outfits and one smaller local firm to provide technical expertise over the coming years
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has picked four suppliers to fulfil contracts potentially worth more than £70m and covering the delivery of expert support for digital projects.
On 20 November, DESNZ signed engagements with three major overseas-headquartered IT consultancies – Cognizant, Capgemini, and Thoughtworks – and one much smaller specialist UK player, Triad.
The four identical agreements cover the “provision of technical specialists and operational services for digital projects”.
These specialists will be brought in via discrete call-off deals to support digital projects in areas including the “delivery and monitoring of grant services [such as] energy efficiency and affordability products and other subsidies to citizens and businesses”, according to the text of the contracts.
Other programmes of work to be support will be focused on “automation, online customer advice portals, [and] data processing and data management”, the document adds.
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DESNZ expects to spend up to £3.75m a year with each of the four suppliers – equating to a total of £15m, excluding VAT. The deals run for an initial term of three years, plus a potential one-year extension. This could take overall spending to £72m.
For that investment, the government agency will be able to access additional expertise in a variety of areas.
The contract says: “The type of specialist resource the [department] requires can be summarised as follows: consultancy support on data infrastructure and technical solutions; project squads to deliver solutions; technical support for platform enhancements and product maintenance; project delivery support and co-ordination.”
The commercial process was supported by the Integrated Corporate Services (ICS) unit created following the machinery of government changes in 2023 that included the creation of DESNZ and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. ICS oversees the joint provision of services for the two departments including procurement, digital, property, finance, HR and security. It also provides some of these services to the Department for Business and Trade, as well as to several other government entities.
